Occupy Movement: Vincent Mosco, Queen's University Professor, Calls Movement Most Important In Generations

TORONTO - The Occupy protest is the most important democratic social movement of the last two generations and demonstrators who have taken over parks and other public spaces should be left alone, an expert in social movements said Wednesday.

As civic authorities across Canada and the U.S. move to end the various occupations, Vincent Mosco, professor emeritus of sociology at Queen's University, said the "extraordinary" movement had created a rarely seen coalition.

"When you see trade unionists, students, minority groups and others coming together, locking arms across sites in North America, what we have here is something unprecedented — at least in recent memory," Mosco said from Ottawa.

"It's everywhere — not just in large cities, but in small towns throughout Canada, the United States, Europe and elsewhere."

Mosco's study of social movements began outside the Pentagon in 1967 when 100,000 anti-Vietnam War protesters began changing the course of history.

Back in the 1970s, he said, construction workers beat up anti-war students in the streets of New York City.

More recently, construction workers went with their own protest signs and joined the Occupy Wall Street demonstration in Zuccotti Park.

Earlier this week, authorities cleared the Manhattan plaza, saying the protesters who spawned the global movement in September could return, but without tents or sleeping bags.

In Canada, authorities in several cities have already ended their occupations, while others are pushing to do so.

Lawyers for the city went to B.C. Supreme Court on Wednesday seeking an injunction against protesters ensconced outside the Vancouver Art Gallery.

Ben Parkin, a lawyer for the city, told Associate Chief Justice Anne MacKenzie that Occupy Vancouver is in breach of the land-regulation bylaw and said the protesters are trespassing.

"There's no dispute people have erected structures ... on the property," Parkin said. "(There's) no issue on the basic facts there is a breach."

In Toronto, the courts will hear a constitutional challenge to municipal bylaws on Friday as the city presses to evict Occupy Toronto participants from the downtown park that turned functioning mini-village after it sprang up with a few tents Oct. 15.

In Calgary, where two people were hurt in a tent fire at the Occupy site early Wednesday, protesters were under orders to leave immediately, but there was no immediate indication of compliance or enforcement.

Regina police and city bylaw officials cleared the last tents from Victoria Park early Wednesday after earlier ticketing the two remaining occupants.

In all cases, civic authorities complained the protesters were in violation of bylaws in taking over public spaces.

But Mosco, who has visited the protest sites in New York, Vancouver and Ottawa, sees it very differently.

While public areas are being "contested" everywhere, he said, most of the disruption has been the "private invasion" of such places.

"We're observing a process of commercializing and privatizing public space, and we should be outraged by it," Mosco said.

"But we don't hear about limits on public space until a genuine public movement raising significant political issues decides to make use of public space."

Mosco said he believed the movement would survive because of its significance, even if protesters end up evicted from their last remaining strongholds.

Most likely, he said, the protests would simply pop up again, either in the same places or in new ones.

At their heart, the protests around the world have taken aim at the growing gap between rich and poor.

No matter what happens, Mosco said they have already made people pay attention to issues of wealth distribution and democracy.

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Occupy Canada: Who's In And Who's Out

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On Nov. 23, Toronto police entered a park to begin removing tents and other structures used by Canada's largest Occupy protest. Officers began to ring St. James Park just after 5:30 a.m. to begin an operation to clear out remnants of the protest that began last month
STATUS: Eviction under way

The city is asking for a court injunction to completely remove the remaining protesters. According to the Calgary Herald, police had removed 32 tents earlier in the week but eight had remained.
STATUS: Eviction pending

The protesters are now a roaming group, having being ousted from Robson Square. They had moved to Grandview Park but had decided to disband to reconvene by Nov. 23.
STATUS: Protest roaming

Occupy London became the first Canadian movement to be shut down thanks to safety concerns at the camp. On the morning of Nov. 9, police evicted hundreds of demonstrators at Victoria Park, as well as dismantling tents and loading gear into trucks. London protesters had been there for around two weeks, but an eviction notice was issued last week for sleeping in the park overnight.
STATUS: Evicted

Right behind London, Halifax became the second Canadian Occupy movement to be shut down on Nov. 11. Mayor Peter Kelly said the demonstrators could continue to protest, but needed to respect bylaws about camping on a public park. Some protesters alleged that police were abusive during the eviction, a claim that Halifax police deny. Around 500 people and more than 50 tents were on the site when police arrived. 14 people arrested for interfering with the eviction.
STATUS: Evicted

At least eight people were arrested Nov. 23 when police entered Ottawa's Confederation Park to ask Occupy protesters to leave. A spokesman for the Occupy Ottawa legal support committee said all but one person had been released with a $65 trespass ticket. The Ottawa action came after the National Capital Commission, which owns the park, posted a notice on Monday ordering the protesters out..
STATUS: Not evicted

Occupy Edmonton has been camped out on private land owned by Melcor Developments Ltd. for weeks now, but the protesters were recently served notice to pack up or be forced out by police. The letter to demonstrators said they must be out by 11 p.m. local time on Nov. 20 or they will face "removal by lawful means."
STATUS: Eviction pending

Occupy Victoria has had its own troubles with bad press, as a city worker was doused in urine after an altercation with a protester who was camping in a tree. The protester, Lyle Barrette, later left the camp voluntarily and now faces assault charges.
A B.C. judge ruled that protesters had to clear out Centennial Square over the weekend. Police now say that most occupants have vacated the park.
STATUS: Evicted

Regina City Hall put an end to the city's occupy movement last week when police moved in just after 11 p.m. to evict protesters who were camping out in Victoria Park. Two people who stayed were ticketed.
A few hours later, the city removed tents and security guards were monitoring the empty park. The existing 11 p.m. public curfew also applies to the new City Square plaza.
STATUS: Evicted